INDIANA BATTLES METH - KENTUCKY MUST, TOO

Other states are way out in front of Kentucky and Indiana in attacking their
epidemics of methamphetamine abuse.
But Indiana lawmakers are making up for lost time. They've filed at least
seven bills aimed at breaking the back of the scourge, as The
Courier-Journal reported last month in its investigative series "Meth: A
Rising Blight."

Addiction to meth is more damaging to the physical, behavioral and
thinking functions than addiction to many other illicit drugs,
including heroin and cocaine, experts have said.

Meth abuse can result in convulsions, paranoia, violent aggression,
irreversible damage to the blood vessels in the brain, strokes and
even death.

And with meth abuse on the rise, more children of addicts are ending
up in their states' custody because their parents are interested in
nothing besides getting high. Some have set their homes on fire
cooking up their illegal brew in kitchens.

The proposed Indiana laws are based on what other states have tried,
as well as recommendations of Indiana's own Methamphetamine Abuse Task
Force, which studied the issue last summer.

The proposals call for such steps as changing Indiana's criminal code
to stiffen penalties for illegal meth offenses; increasing funding for
drug courts and treatment; and requiring drug stores to keep behind
the counter nonprescription cold and allergy medicines that contain
the key ingredients used to make meth. As well, such drugs would be
sold only in limited quantities and only to those who show
identification and sign a log.

Support for such legislation is growing.

U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, for example, has joined a number of Republicans
and Democrats on Capitol Hill who are backing a federal law inspired
by the stunning success Oklahoma had after enacting laws to make it
harder to buy nonprescription drugs with key meth ingredients.

Kentucky's legislature should also seize this moment and show similar
determination to take on the devastating culture of prescription and
nonprescription drug abuse in Kentucky's rural counties. Such abuse
has been winked at for decades and justified by the misguided view
that government works best when it does the least.

There must be a strong response to what is obviously an epidemic in
which citizens are harming themselves, putting their children at risk,
and overburdening law enforcement and many other public resources with
the consequences of their destructive and irresponsible behavior.